When Heartbeats Collide
by birdieofdeath
Summary: Kairi, a budding pop star is out of luck when her music producer suddenly has to take a leave of absence. But an up and coming producer by the name of Sora could be just what she needs to finish her album (and spice up her life).
1. Chapter 1: A New Partnership

"Click, tap tap, click." the sounds of my laptop echoed in the small studio room. Often times, I liked to coop up in here whenever inspiration struck; and last night I had been fortunate enough to strike a gold mine of it. I had been re-watching sleeping beauty for the millionth time and upon this particular re-watch the movie had made me think about the implications of love at first sight. Or I guess, in her case love at first sleep. I thought that it might be an interesting metaphor to talk about love from a dream like state of mind or perspective. I wanted to emulate an airy sound and make the listener feel like they were up in the clouds listening to angels.

I had finished the first verse, the chorus, and had settled on doing the song in B flat minor. As I hummed potential melodies to myself, a sudden knock interrupted my thoughts.

"Come in!" I called. The door clicked open and my assistant Selphie entered.

"Hey Kairi! How's the song writing going today?" she asked. She gently smiled at me and walked over.

"Well… I'm having trouble thinking of a bridge and a second verse, but other than that I'm making good progress."

"I'm glad to hear it!" she exclaimed. "I know you've been having writer's block lately, so it's great you finally un-stuck yourself. Unfortunately, you'll have to finish working on this later; your meeting starts in 10." She checked her watch and gave me an apologetic look. I glanced at the time on my phone: 11:50PM. Right on the dot, as Selphie always was.

"Oh fun," I groaned. "My favorite part of the month."

"That's why I brought you your favorite: iced caramel coffee with a shot of espresso and extra creamer!"

I had been so absorbed in my work that I hadn't yet noticed the coffee in her hand. "I also got you one of those overpriced snack boxes at Papoubucks because I know you forget to eat when you go into these creative frenzies. Seriously! You've been in here for hours." The time had really flown by; we had gotten here around 8 and it was already noon now.

"Thanks, Selph. I swear, I don't know what I'd do without you sometimes."

"Probably starve to death and go into cardiac arrest from caffeine withdrawal."

We erupted into a fit of giggles at the snide remark. As I took a much, much needed sip of coffee (my insomnia had been particularly bad lately) Selphie helped me pack up my belongings. On the walk to the conference room I began explaining my new song to her.

"Have you decided on a name yet?" she asked.

"Some contenders I have are dreamy, cloud, and maybe rem? You know, the stage of sleep you have dreams in. Or at least that's what web MD said."

"I never like looking up medical problems on there, it just always tells me that I have cancer and that I'm going to die or that I'm pregnant," she chortled. "Out of those names though I think I like rem the best."

"Selphie, you're supposed to take the advice from websites like that with a grain of salt." I giggled, before continuing. "But yeah, I think I'll go with rem; it has more meaning behind it than the other names."

"Look sometimes I get curious and can't resist looking my symptoms up! Anyway, it sounds like you're making a really sweet love song! It's a pretty interesting concept too. I'm sure I'll love it when you're done with it."

Our conversation came to a halt as we arrived at the conference room. We took our seats in the black leather chairs and unpacked our belongings as members of my team arrived. Selphie readied a pen and notebook to record important points from the meeting. Glancing up, I saw my manager Aqua make her entrance. We made eye contact and she smiled warmly at me; I grinned back. She always wore suits, but today she was sporting a slightly more casual outfit: a navy button up shirt tucked into a pair of black jeans. Her black heels clicked on the tiles and I noticed that she had her sleeves rolled up; probably due to the recent heatwaves. Destiny Islands was famous for having the highest temperatures out of all the worlds, especially during summer.

The rest of my team followed suit behind Aqua: Olette (the head of my PR team), Xion (head of my marketing team), and Marluxia (performance coordinator). Olette was donning a flowing orange sundress with wedge sandals, Xion was wearing a sleek grey suit, and Marluxia was sporting a pink polo shirt with jeans. Aqua briefly scanned the room to make sure all members of my team were accounted for before starting.

"Alright guys let's get started. I know I want to take my lunch break just as much as you all," Aqua said. The room filled with soft laughter at the cheeky comment.

"First things first, let's check in with you Kairi. How much progress have you made on your album since our last update?"

"Well…" I fidgeted with my pen as I skimmed over my notes. "I have about 5 songs that I finished writing lyrics for. I'm in the process of finish a 6th song right now. How much time do I have left before the album has to be finalized?"

Aqua paused for a moment and glanced at her laptop.

"I met with Mickey, the head of the department and he said he'd like to have it finalized by September so… that gives you about 4 more months. He also said you needed to have at least 10 songs on the album, if not more."

"That's cutting a little bit short but as long as I have Pence to help me finish writing it should be okay. Is he going to be back soon?"

"Well… about that. Pence's younger brother finally found a kidney donor."

"Really?! That's great!" I smiled and clasped my hands. They had been waiting for 6 months at this point. I sighed in relief; things would finally be okay for Pence's family again.

"I know!" Aqua beamed back at me. "However, because of that he's decided to take a leave of absence to help out his family back in Twilight Town. Which unfortunately means we have no music producer for you for a while. However, no need to fear manager Aqua is here! I've already recruited some local producers to replace Pence in the meantime. If you don't click with any, I can always look for more candidates, but it would be easier if you chose one of them for convivence's sake. I'll email you their resumes and sample songs for you to look over later. I even took the liberty to schedule interviews with them for this evening so we can get the ball rolling ASAP."

My anxiety began to flare up at the prospect of interviewing strangers. Writing music was such an emotional and personal process for me; not to mention with someone completely new. Pence had helped me write some of my greatest radio hits and I trusted him so much. It was going to be difficult having to go without him this time.

"Thanks, Aqua, I'll look over them during lunch. When are the interviews?" I responded, trying to mask the shakiness in my voice. I hid my hands under the table as they shook.

"I have 3 candidates; interviews start at 3PM with 30-minute time blocks for each candidate. Don't worry, you'll get out of here no later than 5 today. And with that out of the way, let's move on to the next topic!"

Chatter broke out into the room and I began munching on my snack. Olette and Selphie discussed some modeling opportunity for 'Destiny' magazine, but I was barely paying attention. I breathed slowly, trying to calm down from the anxiety eating away at me until Olette interjected.

"Hey Kairi, have you heard of the Radiant Garden Met Gala? Yuffie is one of the fashion designers for this year; I met her at a networking conference last week. Apparently, she's a big fan of yours and asked if she could have the honor of designing for you!" She pushed a stray hair behind her ear as she beamed at me excitedly.

The Met Gala was one of the biggest annual fashion events throughout all the worlds. While I never really cared for the press at big events, getting dressed up and admiring all of the designer's hard work was my favorite thing about red carpet events.

"I'd love to attend, Selphie do I have room in my schedule for it?"

"Mmmmm…" she paused as she flipped through her planner, "Yeah! It is cutting it a bit close to your performance for the Island's summer fest but definitely doable. Olette, can you give me Yuffie's email so that I can coordinate the consultation and fitting?"

Olette nodded and began typing away at her laptop. Xion then stepped up to show some new merch designs for the team to look over on the projector. Aqua and I approved some and requested alterations on others for her team to work on. Marluxia and Selphie then discussed some future performance dates. By the time the meeting was finished, my coffee and snack box were no more. Everyone fled out of the room saying their goodbyes quickly, excited for lunch.

"Hey Kairi, what are you in the mood for? Why don't you go prepare for those interviews while I go pick up lunch?" Selphie asked.

"How about comfort food? Maybe some pad thai from that Asian place on Shinjitsu street?" I desperately needed something to calm my nerves with how on edge I felt.

"Oh, I love their orange chicken! I'll head out now, be back in a flash! I wanna take a look at those resumes too when I get back. A new producer, how exciting!" she squealed. Grabbing her purse, she dashed out the door. I quickly packed up and headed back to my studio room. Once there, I made myself comfortable at the desk and pulled up my email.

_Hey sweetheart!_

_Here are the 3 candidates I've picked out for you: Hayner, Seifer, and Sora. The first two have worked with some of my other artists I manage, and Sora was a recommendation from Xion herself. Apparently, they went to high school together and he works with some of her other merchandise clients. As a reminder, interviews start at 3PM! I've told them to just meet you in your studio. Good luck and remember to check in with me tomorrow._

_Sincerely,_

_Aqua_

_Artist Manager at Destiny Island Records_

Deciding it was best to just go in order, I clicked on the first file titled 'Hayner'. Previous artists he'd worked with included big names like Yuna and Paine. Yuna was well known for fast paced hip hop EDM songs and Paine did a lot of alternative rock. At least he was multifaceted, but neither genre was exactly my cup of tea. I clicked on the links to the sample songs listed but was only slightly impressed.

Then, I pulled up Seifer's resume. Apparently, he'd been behind some of the top hits lately; many that I knew and enjoyed. I didn't even need to take a listen to the samples; I knew the songs already. However, his style didn't fit the vibe I was trying to go for on this album. It was way too… club music-y and sexual. Before I even got a chance to look at the last candidate, Selphie waltzed in.

"Kairi! I'm back!" the plastic bags crinkled loudly as she set them down on the table. She handed me my food and started to dig into hers before barraging me with questions.

"So, have you looked at the resumes yet? What do you think so far?"

"I've only looked at two. I'm not particularly interested in Hayner and Seifer is a maybe. I haven't had a chance to look at this 'Sora' guy yet though." I turned my laptop to her.

"Wow the first two guys seem pretty accomplished! What's wrong with the Hayner guy?"

"His style doesn't really fit with my vision for this album. I'm also not a punk or rock singer."

"Oh, I guess that's true. Why is Seifer a maybe?"

"I feel like he has a good track record for making hit singles, but that's the only reason I'm considering him."

"You don't need a producer to make hits! You have some of the best, no, the best vocals I've ever heard. Don't go with him just because you think he's the technically correct choice. Why don't we take a look at the last guy tog-e-herfmmf?"

"After I finish my lunch. And Selphie, I love you but please don't talk with your mouth full of food."

"Hey!" she pouted, and her face made me burst into a fit of giggles.

Selphie scarfed down her lunch in 2 minutes while I ate my pad thai at a reasonable pace. She may have looked tiny and ladylike on the outside, but the girl was a monster when it came to food. There was a reason she didn't do dinner dates on the first date; I've never met anyone with a more bottomless stomach than her.

"Kairiiiii, I'm trying to be patient but you're taking so long to eat! Can I just start looking at the Sora guy now?"

I rolled my eyes. "It's not my fault you eat at the speed of light. Are you sure you're human?"

She smacked my shoulder lightly and pouted.

"Sorry, sorry. Yeah go ahead. Once Selphie had finished skimming the written portion, she played one of the sample songs. The song was soft and gentle, and a beautiful tenor voice sang over it.

_Don't get me wrong I love you_

_But does that mean I have to meet, your father_

_When we are older, you'll understand what I meant when I said no_

_I don't think, life is quite that simple_

I was hooked. It was exactly the tone I was looking for with the added bonus of meaningful lyrics. Selphie noticed my eyes widen and sniggered.

"There's more sample songs listed; I'm assuming you want to hear the rest?"

"Yes please." I immediately answered. She giggled once more at my eagerness.

_A sanctuary, my sanctuary, yeah_

_Where fears and lies melt away_

_Music in time_

_I need more affection than you know_

_What's left of me, what's left of me_

The first song had been a bit more upbeat but this one sounded heavenly and dreamy… which is exactly what I had wanted for the song I was working on this morning. I quickly scarfed down the rest of my food before beckoning Selphie to give the laptop back.

"Quite the eager beaver we have here huh?"

"Shut up. I just happen to like these samples okay?"

I wiped my hands off on a napkin before scrolling back to the top of the resume. He had only worked with lesser known artists, and only had two years in the industry under his belt. Experience or not, it was obvious the guy was gifted. I absolutely needed to meet this man.


	2. Chapter 2: It's meet to nice you

I scribbled down notes about each candidate and mulled over what interview questions I should choose.

"Alright Kairi, it's about time to head over for _Operation Kairi gets a man_" she said with a sly smirk.

I rolled my eyes. "Selphie, you know I'm not looking right now."

"But Kairiiiiiii!" she whined. It's been 2 years since Ventus at this point. You never know; maybe one of them is your prince charming."

I shrugged and gathered my things instead of responding to her. Ventus was still a touchy subject. She frowned, but reluctantly held the door open for me in silence.

" It's in conference room 106. I'm sorry Kairi…its just been so long you know? I just wanna see you happy with someone else again."

I sighed but smiled weakly at her. " I know. It's just gonna take someone really special okay? Besides, it gives me more time to focus on my career."

We arrived at the conference room and I sat down in one of the cushy black chairs. She glanced at her watch. " T-minus 10 minutes. You got 30 minutes for each candidate but don't feel pressured to have to go the whole time. She reached over to pat my shoulder.

"Good luck okay girly? We'll go to your favorite bar after; we haven't been in a while now anyway."

And with that she headed out to go grab the first person. The conference room suddenly felt cold and empty all by myself. My chest felt tight and breathing started to seem impossible. You'd think someone who constantly performed in sold out stadiums wouldn't suffer from so much social anxiety but alas that's the way of the worlds sometimes. I took a moment to skim over my notes again and tried to calm down as much as I possibly could. It didn't work.

_It's okay Kairi. You'll go out with Selphie and binge watch Netflix with Pluto when you get home. _

Suddenly, Selphie came back and knocked on the door.

"Kairi! This is Hayner." She waved him in and gave me a thumbs up. He walked over and I partially stood up to shake his hand.

"It's nice to meet you Kairi!" he said. He seemed super excited and as he sat down his leg started bouncing like a jack rabbit.

"It's nice to meet you too Hayner." I took a moment to take a good look at him. He had dirty blonde hair that looked like it had been slicked back with too much hair gel. His outfit was pretty casual: baggy camo cargo pants and a plain black tank top.

"So how has your day been Hayner?" I asked.

"Oh, you know. Good but also super exhausting with all the upcoming deadlines I have so I've been kind of worked down to the bone lately."

Well that was red flag number one. He probably wouldn't have much time for me; and my workflow could be pretty time consuming. I liked to track all my own vocals and be very involved with the entire production. My album doesn't deserve sloppy seconds.

"I'm sorry to hear that, although I'm kind of in the same boat too. It's getting to be crunch time for me on this album release."

"Hopefully I might be able to help with that dude! Fire the questions away at me man."

"So Hayner, can you tell me a little about yourself?"

"Sure can. So I've been in the industry for about 4 years now I think? Typically I end up writing very club-y dance music but I also really enjoy writing for rock singers. I work really hard and well under pressure."

"What made you decide to want to work with me?"

"The chance to work with the female artist of the year dude. You're really talented man, and I'm pretty laid back so I know we'd have a great time in the studio."

Hayner seemed relatively friendly but I had a feeling that he mostly just wanted more fame and notoriety from working with me. But to be fair, anyone who got the job would get a pretty big paycheck on top of all of that so I couldn't fault him for that.

"Could you explain to me what your creative process is like?"

"I write some hooks and chorus's to show the singer and she/he picks one. From there I finish writing the music and lyrics for the song and then we come back to record the vocals. Then, it's final edits and fine tuning and bam, song done. Basically, if you're not too picky I can get out a lot of bangers in a short amount of time."

That was pretty upsetting to hear since I always write my own lyrics and like to oversee everything. From the looks of it we probably wouldn't end up being a good fit even though he seemed like a nice enough guy. I glanced at the clock on the wall and saw that only fifteen minutes had passed. I made the decision to end early and skip to the last question as a courtesy.

"How much of a time commitment are you willing to make for this project?"

"It's kind of hard to say at the moment. I'm wrapping up the final touches for the other albums right now as well. Maybe 5-10 hours a week? I know that doesn't seem like a lot but I promise I'm a machine who can do like 40 hours of work in 10."

I bit my tongue to avoid frowning. In my notebook, I crossed out Hayner's name and wrote nope, nope, nope, and nope.

"Well, I think we'll stop there since that was the last question. Thank you for your time Hayner. I'll have Aqua reach out to you by email for the decision." I reached out to shake his hand again but he instead opted for a fist bump.

"Thanks for your time man. I hope I might see you next week in the studio." He said as he walked out the door.

Conclusion: nice but not the right one. I played a dumb phone game and waited for Selphie to bring the next guy.

Selphie knocked on the door again and brought the next schmuck in.

"Kairi! You've got mail. Just kidding, this is Seifer."

Seifer walked in and winked at me as soon as we made eye contact. He was really tall, blonde, and wearing a Givenchy suit. There was also what I like to call a man purse hanging off his shoulder which I assumed was also probably designer. He walked up to me with confidence in his stride to give me a firm handshake.

"Good afternoon Kairi! Wow, you're even more gorgeous in person." he said as he lifted my hand up to kiss it.

Uh, gross. I quickly retracted my hand and wiped it on my sweatshirt to get the cooties off. I looked down at my attire: a XXL pink sweatshirt, and plain white tennis shoes. My hair extensions were in and I had a full face of makeup, but that was just because of paparazzi. At least he was only talking about my face.

"Uh, thanks. Have a seat." I said as I motioned towards the chair. I glanced down at my notes and fiddled nervously with my sleeves that I had balled up.

"I'm ready whenever you are princess."

His smile made me uneasy and I tried not to cringe. Something about him radiated arrogance which I really didn't like.

"Can you tell me a little about yourself?" I asked.

"Of course love. I'm originally from Twilight Town, but as you know the islands are _the_ hotspot for the music industry so I ended up moving here about 5 years ago. Although, I'm sure you already know this. After all, I am the genius behind 3 of the top 100 billboard hits right now: hit that, shake it baby, and dance all night long. most people in the area already know my name"

I did not know a single bit of his autobiography, but what I did know is that I hated literally every single one of those songs. I made no comment and moved on.

"So what made you want to work with me on this project?"

"Uh, who _wouldn't _want to work with you? I'd be stupid to turn down an opportunity like this; every single one of your albums has had a number one single. And besides, you've kind of got the whole package: looks, talent, and the fact that you've been single for a while. I thought I might be able to fix that problem for you miss."

"Um, I'm not really looking right now. I'm gonna stop the interview here. Aqua will email you about the decision later."

I reached out to shake his hand as a courtesy but he instead used the opportunity to pull me into a very awkward hug.

"I'm glad you realized I'm the one for the job so quickly. Though I'm not surprised; I tend to have that effect on people. See you soon sweetheart."

He winked, reached into his bag to hand me a business card, and made a 'call me' gesture as he walked out. Immediately, I ripped the card up. Into as many pieces as possible. From past experience I wasn't surprised these interviews were going so badly. Women were not respected in this industry unfortunately. To pretty much everyone I was just eye candy with a pretty voice and nothing more. I looked out the window and wished so badly for Pence to just magically appear to save the day. We'd become so close after working on my album 'My Everything' together 2 years ago. During the process, he had become one of my few best friends. 'Maybe if Aqua could convince Mickey to extend the deadline I could try to do 80% of the leg work on my own and by the time I was finished Pence could help me with the final touches and edits and…'

My thoughts were interrupted by Selphie knocking once more. I sighed before replying with "Come in!" in the cheeriest voice I could manage.

And then he walked in.

You know those movie magic moments where the love interests lock eyes and you get all giddy because you're a hopeless romantic? Yeah, this was my movie magic moment.

I briefly glanced at Selphie, who winked at me and mouthed 'HE'S CUTE' at me before she made her exit.

I took a good look at him as he walked over to me. His hair was brown and spiky; kind of like his hairdresser had looked at a picture of a porcupine for inspiration at his last haircut. A picture of an extremely adorable porcupine.

His eyes were bright blue and full of life and light. They contrasted well with his tan skin; he was probably a native islander. He donned a sporty black jacket with a red shirt, black joggers, and yellow tennis shoes. He was about average height and pretty lanky, but that was what I tended to be attracted to.

"Hey Kairi! The name's Sora." He said. His voice snapped me back into reality, and he made a gesture with his thumb to point at himself.

"You probably already knew that though because of my resume…" he said, laughing nervously. He reached out and shook my hand gently and I felt like my hand was on fire all of a sudden. As he sat down, he smiled at me so wide that his eyes partially closed. It was such a pure and genuine smile that my chest started to feel warm.

"It's nice to meet you Sora." I said.

"Pleasure is all mine ma'am." He saluted at me and I repressed the urge to smile.

"So um, Sora can you tell me a little about yourself?"

"Sure. So I just recently graduated from Destiny Island's University for the arts a year ago. I'm actually a destiny native and from the main island. I moved here though after I graduated since this is where all the producer job opportunities are. I've only worked with a few indie artists, but some of those songs made it onto the top 10 of the billboard hits. I'm still kind of a small fry though, so I just want to really quickly thank you for taking the time out of your day to interview little ole me."

His cheerful demeaner was infections and I felt like I could finally breathe unlike the other interviews.

"So what made you decide to apply?"

"Well… uh…this is kind of embarrassing but I've actually been a huge fan of you for a while now. I think since your second album 'Yours Truly'. Your voice is incredible and I've seen you live before; you sound even better live than in the studio versions. You don't see many soprano singers with a 5 octave range everyday. So having the opportunity to maybe work with you on your new album is like a dream come true for me. On top of that, I legitimately respect you so much for actually having a degree in vocal performance which is super abnormal for pop stars these days. I feel like working with you would really feel like more of a collaboration than me necessarily having to do every single little thing."

I looked back at him with shock. Even Pence and Selphie didn't know about my college degree. I've also never mentioned it in an interview before so he must have been a fan for a long time to know that.

"Ah I'm sorry. I told myself I wouldn't fanboy so much, I just really admire your work a lot." He sheepishly scratched the back of his neck and his sleeve rode up just for me to see the tip of a keyblade tattoo.

"Is that…is that tattoo of the kingdom key?" I asked

He looked surprised and pulled his sleeve up so show me the full tattoo.

"Yeah it is. You're fan of the Kingdom Hearts games? I never would've expected you'd be a nerd Kairi." He grinned deviously and wiggled his eyebrows at me.

"Yeah. You caught me officer Sora." I held my hands up in the air like I was being arrested."

"I actually have a tattoo of a keyblade too though. No one ever really sees it though because I always wear thigh high boots all the time." I pulled down my sock so he could take a look.

"No way! You have a Destiny's embrace tattoo?" he said excitedly and his eyes lit up. He tilted his head to the side as he looked at it like a puppy would. A spiky puppy. I couldn't hold back anymore and I erupted into a fit of laughter.

"Hey! What's so funny?"

I pointed at him and said "Your face!" in between giggles. I laughed so hard that my cheeks started to hurt from smiling too much. He pouted at me for like 5 seconds before he couldn't contain himself and started to laugh with me. Then, his laughter suddenly stopped and he looked at me with a serious look in his eyes.

"You finally smiled. And your hands stopped shaking. You look so much better with smile on your face than a frown. This boat runs on happy faces okay?"

I smiled at the Kingdom Hearts reference he made.

"Ah, crap. Sorry that was rude of me. We should probably get back to the interview." He said.

I sat there in shock. A complete stranger had somehow been the only one to notice all day how crappy I had been feeling today. Not even Selphie had picked up on it fully. In a daze, I said "No it's okay. That's really nice of you to try to cheer me up so thank you. Uh, next question. What's your creative process like?"

"Well um…I'd like to tell you it's super organized and all efficient and stuff but to be honest I kind of just sit there for hours on end and I work until I'm happy with the final product. I have this like notebook with a bunch of miscellaneous ideas that I normally pull from. Oh, I actually brought my laptop just in case you want to take a look at some of the stuff I'm currently working on."

"I'd love to see some more of your work actually; I really liked the samples I heard that were on the email Aqua sent me."

"Really? That means the world to me. One second." He pulled his laptop out of his backpack and I realized that we had the exact same laptop. His had various stickers all over it though while mine had a pink case. He opened his laptop and I peered over and he pulled up logic (music software). I looked at the other apps he had and saw that he was also a Sibelius (music notation software) user.

"No way, you also use Sibelius?" I asked

"Wait you do too! Yay! Hashtag Finale is trash for the win. No one believes me on that, us lot have to stick together you know?"

I smiled and watched him pull up some of his most recent projects. We listened to some of his songs that were finished, and some incomplete ones. I could tell that a lot of time and effort was put into every single song. He took the extra time and effort to layer adlibs instead of just copying and pasting the chorus. I noticed that he actually utilized used key changes, tempo changes, and dynamics which was rare these days.

I checked the clock and noticed that 40 minutes had already flown by. I really didn't want my time with him to end but I also wanted to be respectful of his time; especially since we had already gone over the scheduled time.

"I just have one last question and then I'll let you go. Sorry that we went over I should've payed more attention to the time. What is your availability like?"

"Maybe I could use a stopga spell so we can just keep going."

I laughed again at the Kingdom Hearts reference.

"But uh, I have a pretty open schedule other than my part time bartending job. I can quit that though if I theoretically got the job and you needed me full time. I'm not working on any projects with anyone at the moment."

"Okay, I'll end the interview there then. Thanks for your time Sora. And for making me smile. I really was having a pretty bad day so I appreciate it."

"No problem! I'm just glad that you even interviewed me in the first place since I know you probably have super mega star producers already lined up. It means a lot that you'd even consider me. Welp, I should probably get going now so goodbye Kairi."

And with that, he smiled a goofy grin at me before walking out. The room somehow felt cold again as soon as he left. I didn't even realize I'd been spacing out, lost in thought until Selphie came back.

"Well well well. That last interview went on for a while there Kairiiiii. And…you're smiling so wide it looks like your face is gonna explode."

"It just went really well okay? It's not a big deal" I muttered.

"He was pretty cute huh? If it weren't for Tidus I'd call dibs but don't worry Kairi, you can have him all to yourself."

She smiled deviously at me and I was thankful I had full coverage foundation to hide how hot my face was getting.  
"I'm going back to the studio. You can go home early and meet me at the bar later; I'll be there at 9 okay?"

"Ugh, you work yourself too hard Kairi. I don't wanna disturb you in the studio so I guess I'll head out now. We can talk later about the interviews."

We both left; Selphie heading out to the parking lot and me heading to my sanctuary to go calm down.


End file.
